This was nobody's idea of a good time. Even by the standards of all-weather ­racing, Southwell is an unglamorous place and its limited charisma is not improved by ice on the ground and snow in the air, but there was plenty of gratitude here ­ as the Nottinghamshire track did its best for the frostbitten community of jumps racing.

The cold snap has prevented any racing from taking place on turf since the Sunday before last and, as jump racing on ­artificial surfaces is banned, a lot of chasers and hurdlers have been standing idle in their boxes. Their trainers and owners have been unable to win any prize money, while their jockeys have also been deprived of any income from riding fees.

Southwell offered some ­limited respite by using their ­Fibresand all-weather track to stage a card of ­"bumpers" – races on the Flat for horses who are ­supposed to mature into jumpers in time. A first for British racing, it attracted 62 runners but proved of almost no interest to ­spectators, who numbered 38 on the grandstand steps as the tape went up for the first. Nevertheless, some of the ­biggest names in the sport were delighted to stop ­shovelling snow and go racing.

"They've done a great job, because we're all working away and nothing to do, so it's a great initiative and needs ­supporting," said Nicky Henderson, who made the 145-mile journey from his ­Berkshire base. "We've had some days that it's been quite enjoyable in the snow and other days, like yesterday, it was absolutely horrendous.

"We've done nothing but dig and sweep and dig our way out and then you get up this morning and it's all covered again. We were lucky to get out of Lambourn."

After 30 years with a licence, ­Henderson has little left to learn about his sport but racing horses on Fibresand was new to him. He had phoned colleagues, including Sir Mark Prescott, for advice as to tactics and appeared pleased with the outcome: three winners from six runners.

"It's been a very good day and they've looked after us very well," he said, when the hat-trick was in the bag. "It's ­interesting and we're learning a lot because it's strange ground for us. You probably do want them to be quite fit. It's all right but it makes them work hard and they don't quicken up much in it."

A similar card of bumpers will take place at Kempton on Saturday if the jumps card scheduled for that day is abandoned after an inspection this afternoon. The novel twist is that even horses with experience over obstacles will be allowed to run and Henderson has entered Punjabi for one of Kempton's bumpers, though he said the reigning champion hurdler was unlikely to run. Big names from other stables who may be testing the Polytrack surface include Twist Magic, Celestial Halo and Air Force One.

Punjabi is more likely to go to ­Haydock for the Champion Hurdle trial a week on Saturday, with the Irish Champion at ­Leopardstown the next day as a ­possibility. It is Henderson's fervent hope that one of those races take place, because he wants to get two runs into the ­notoriously stuffy seven-year-old before his title defence, and the Kingwell on 20 February is ­supposed to be the second.

If Haydock and Leopardstown also fall victim to the weather, Punjabi may have to race against his stablemates, Binocular and Zaynar, and the trainer would much rather keep them all apart until the ­Cheltenham Festival. "But, as we keep running out of races, the problem becomes more acute," he said.

Henderson had problems getting ­Binocular fit during a similar cold snap in February last year. "Another week would be a disaster, two weeks would be even worse but at least it's January, not ­February," he said.

That stab at optimism might not have survived a conversation with his fellow trainer Ferdy Murphy, who was also here. "We won't panic yet," Murphy said, "but someone's just told me that there's a bad forecast from Monday for the next two weeks and that would be bad news.

"But everybody's in the same boat. I suppose one of way of looking at it is that there'll be a lot more sound horses in March than there were last year, so the opposition [at the Festival] is going to be a bit tougher."